Welcome to Midway, Jennifer Keller
by DaniWilder
Summary: Sequel to Welcome to New Athos. Jennifer gets caught up in the attack on Midway Station.
1. Teaser Prologue

**A/N: I didn't want to start another story, but I've stalled on my other McKeller's. I've had this idea in my head for years, so I'm doing this story as a sequel to **_**Welcome To New Athos**__**.**_

**I own nothing. Some dialogue will be taken from Gateworld.**_**  
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><p>Jennifer Keller sat on the floor of the Midway station alongside Doctor Lee and an unconscious Doctor Peter Kavanagh awaiting the whim of their captors. She'd arrived barely two hours ago, been escorted to the control room by a red-faced Bill Lee and then the Pegasus gate activated to allow entry of a Wraith strike force.<p>

They moved swiftly, killing the few security guards on the station and taking over the control room with three engineers and Jennifer as hostages. Jennifer felt useless and seriously questioned her decision to return to Atlantis as she had to stand by while Doctor Dempster was fed upon. When the Wraith turned to her and the other engineers, Kavanagh passed out.

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><p>The Wraith tech at the console discovered how to dial the Earth gate without the help of Doctor Lee so they were left alone. "Send the device."<p>

"Uh, device?" Lee questioned, his gaze went from the Wraith to Jennifer. He then raised his hand as if we were in school. "Um, what device?"

Jennifer was suddenly hit with a wave of terror. "The Wraith are on their way to Earth. We've got to stop them," she whispered to Bill. Images of her father, Uncle Jack and the Millers filled her head.

Little Madison Miller had fallen asleep the night before reading a story to her because Jennifer couldn't sleep. Her eyes fell on the husk of Dempster. "We _can't_ let Earth become a feeding ground."

"Unfortunately, we'll be their feeding ground if we provoke them." He tried to smile and patted her knee reassuringly. "Best sit still. Rescue is on its way."

"_Rescue_?" she said incredulously. "The Wraith control the gates, the _Daedalus_ is on Earth, so that makes us the only ones to help." Her eyes fell on the big engineer lying next to them. Kavanagh had stumbled around, blushing furiously when Bill brought her into the control room. _So he wouldn't be much help even if he was awake._

"The Wraith won't get out of the SGC. Colonel Mitchell will stop them," Bill stated.

The Wraith glanced at them huddled with their backs against the wall under the viewport.

He lowered his voice. "There's nothing we can do."

Jennifer looked around wildly. A memory from two weeks ago came back to her. At the time she was so terrified that she lashed out at Rodney in anger.

_How could you?_ she screamed after Rodney told her he would sacrifice himself to save Jeannie from nanites that she'd been infected with.

The physicist told her how he'd stopped all contact with Jeannie when she became pregnant. The regret and pain was written in his eyes as he confessed ignoring the only family he had.

How could Jennifer question that?_ Wouldn't you do the same for Uncle Jack or Dad? Or Rodney?_

Luckily for her Master Gunny Richards and Colonel Sheppard had another idea. It wasn't necessary for Rodney to die, someone else _volunteered_.

With thoughts of sacrificing to save those you love on her mind, she muttered, "Self destruct."

"What?" Bill Lee asked.

"Is there a self-destruct?"

"Yes, but I don't know the codes. And even if I did, we'd never get past the Wraith to get to the escape pod." He glanced nervously at the Wraith who suddenly got up and looked out the view windows.

From their seats on the floor they couldn't see anything happening below on the floor of the station. "It looks like they're distracted. We need to do something _now_," Jennifer whispered forcefully.

TBC

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry for this **_**teaser**_** piece, but I wanted to find out if you are interested in a story with Jennifer on Midway. **

**I know this couple is more angsty than many of you love-yes, **_**cheeriolord**_**, I'm talking to you - but I will get to fluff eventually. **

**Please let me know if I should continue.  
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	2. The Gatebridge is down

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews and positive feedback. I'll try to update more frequently than the others. Thanks _BetherdyBabe_ for brainstorming.  
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**Some dialogue taken from **_**Gateworld**_**.**

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><p>Rodney put the small black velvet box in his pants but realized Sheppard would see the bulge and he'd never live it down. It went into his small overnight back that he'd packed for his weekend trip to Earth next. Thank goodness for the gate bridge or he would never have survived Jennifer's four-month departure from Atlantis.<p>

"No. If it's in the pack I might forget it." He took it out once more and this time stuck it in his jacket pocket. "Now I'll have it when I need it."

"McKay," Colonel Carter's voice sounded in his ear.

"What!" he snapped. His mind already 24 hours in the future when he'd meet Jennifer at her Uncle's place outside Colorado Springs to escort her to _The Broadmoor_.

"We've got some issues with the gate bridge. Please come to the control room, Rodney," Sam said, her voice annoyed but controlled.

"No," he shouted. "I'm leaving in a few hours. This can't happen." Rodney couldn't -no… _wouldn't_- allow anything to keep him from Jennifer this weekend. After nearly a year of being together, tomorrow night was when he was going to show Jennifer what she meant to him. " Zelenka must have messed something up."

"Then get up here and fix it," she replied.

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><p>John Sheppard walked into the Control Room accompanied by Master Gunnery Sergeant Richards. Sam, Radek and Rodney were sitting at separate consoles typing busily.<p>

"What's going on?" he asked, finally able to relax after the tension of Teal'c's visit.

"Intergalactic Bridge is down," Rodney snapped. His fingers flying over the keys and eyes darting around the various screens before him. He looked absolutely livid.

"How'd _that_ happen?" John knew Rodney had requested leave this weekend and assumed he was going back to see Jennifer.

After he threatened to sacrifice himself to save his sister, there was even more of a strain on their relationship than before. The Colonel really liked Jennifer, but he wasn't sure Rodney was up to supporting someone who was trying to overcome a traumatic experience. John feared they were nearing the end of their yearlong relationship.

"I don't know. They were sending the daily status reports to the S.G.C. and couldn't connect to Midway." Rodney didn't look up and continued to work.

"Some kind of malfunction, either in one of the Gates or the call-forwarding macro." Sam was as equally engrossed in her screen.

Radek stayed out of the conversation.

"It's probably just a glitch – a simple software hiccup," Rodney said, sweat obviously forming on his brow.

"Hiccup?"

"We hope," Sam said.

John's eyes widened and he glanced at Richards. "Ronon and Teal'c!"

"The malfunction occurred several minutes after they went through. I'm sure they made it to Midway." Rodney brought up a picture on the screen of the bridge and the location of the malfunction.

"But we can't be absolutely certain," Sam replied.

Rodney looked at her indignantly.

"Since when is Rodney the optimistic one?" Radek questioned from his location in the back of the control room.

"Those Gates are in space. If they walked through," John stopped talking.

"No. No. No. Look, the glitch occurred at M4F-788. That is a planetary gate at the edge of the Pegasus galaxy which means worst-case scenario they stepped through the puddle and they found themselves stranded on an uninhabited planet." Rodney waved off a comment from Sam.

"Stranded. More time together – just what they need!" John muttered to Richards.

"I didn't realize Ronon could be so ignorant, sir," Gunny said quietly to his CO.

John's eyebrows rose.

"I'm surprised he hasn't realized Teal'c has been playing him all along," Richards replied.

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><p>An hour later after discovering that the Wraith hijacked the intergalactic bridge, Rodney found himself suited up with a P90, standing between Sergeant Warrington and Master Gunnery Sergeant Richards.<p>

The big Marine from Bermuda was often assigned to guard Rodney if Richards was needed elsewhere. Since they were going into an unknown, potentially deadly situation on the Midway station, his skills were greatly needed up front with Colonel Sheppard.

"We have to assume the Wraith have taken over Midway Station," John said to the twenty men assembled with him. "I want five teams. Richards, Warrington and McKay are with me."

John continued to talk about what to do once they went through the gate, but Rodney honestly couldn't focus. He was going to let Jennifer down. She didn't know he was surprising her by coming back early to accompany her back to Atlantis. The woman he loved was clueless of his plans for them to spend a couple nights at The Broadmoor hotel and resort in Colorado Springs. _Now she'll hang out with her Uncle who hates me, find out the bridge is down and board the Daedalus for a three-week journey back to Atlantis._

Rodney's stomach clenched as he remembered his last encounter with the General. The genius thought a fishing trip with Mister Keller might give him the perfect chance to ask the age-old question all fathers' dread. Unfortunately, he didn't count on one over-protective Uncle to tag along.

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><p>"The Pegasus gate is activating," the Wraith tech said.<p>

Jennifer and Bill Lee were seated on the floor at the far end of the room so they couldn't see out the window to the gate room or the pictures on the monitors. She closed her eyes as a wave of panic once again set it. "Doctor Lee, if more Wraith are coming through, we've got to stop them." She hated to beg, but she needed the engineers to support her. "I don't know enough to know what to do to shut them down or destroy the station."

"Let's not get too hasty," Bill said.

The Wraith suddenly shouted, so the two hostages looked around the main console station. They could see the monitor and several figures in black entering.

Jennifer's heart skipped a beat and a grin spread over her face. The stance of the front men was known to her, having fought with them almost a year ago. Master Gunny Richards and Colonel Sheppard were shooting at whatever was moving. As blue blasts reigned down, causing them and those to follow them to jump off the ramp from the Stargate or fear being stunned, fear replaced her elation. _Rodney! He'd just walked into a Wraith trap if John brought him along. _"Bill, we've got to help them."

"What can we do?" the engineer asked.

Jennifer looked wildly around. She needed to somehow warn the men coming that there were perhaps sixty or seventy Wraith on the station with hundreds more on the way.

TBC

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><p><strong>AN: Making some changes to how Midway unfolds. Sorry for Ronon lovers, but I always shook my head at the Ronon versus Teal'c thing as something entirely fabricated to get them to fight. I feel they would have gotten along instantly like they did at the end of the episode. They are both warriors and 'outsiders' on their Gate teams. Oh well, so much of my rant**.


	3. Surprise

**A/N: Thanks for the wonderful response to this story. I'm going to change some things from the episode, but it will end up in the same place. All mistakes are mine, no beta.**

**Some dialogue taken from **_**Gateworld**_**.**

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><p>Jennifer looked wildly around the control room. Two Wraith were gathered in front of a monitor looking at the gate room with the Earth gate at one end and the Pegasus gate at the other.<p>

Both gates were shutting down on the monitor, which caused the physician to breathe a slight sigh of relief. _No more Wraith could get to Earth and no more could come from Pegasus._

"Bill," she whispered as she whipped around the corner of the console where they were hiding to face him. "Are there shields on the gates?"

"Yes, we have shields, but…"

"We need to activate them or at least the one from Pegasus. We also need to find a way to close off the Wraith in sections of the station. This place is like a mouse maze from grad school," she said. Her mind was racing and she found herself moving her hands around as she spoke.

"Whoa, whoa." Bill held up his own hand. "We can't begin messing with the systems. Do I need to remind you that there are Wraith in the control room with us?"

"Bill!" Jennifer glared at the engineer. "We need to protect Earth from the Wraith. Not to mention Sheppard and his team have no idea the numbers of Wraith they'll be facing. I'm not sure they even know the layout." Her patience was shot lately. She found herself snapping and fighting at the drop of a hat. It was part of her post-traumatic stress, but knowing the cause didn't help her to control it any better.

"If anything happens to you, General O'Neill…"

"Bill, if we don't do something we'll all be dead." She glared at the older man. When his eyes flicked toward the control console to her left a plan formed. "That's the main Gate control system, right? Kavanagh was babbling about it to me."

"Yes, but…"

"Help me move Kavanagh."

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><p>Rodney rested his back against the right side of the doorway that headed toward the control room of Midway station. Sergeant Warrington was opposite him and looking down the corridor. Colonel Sheppard was sending out teams of men to search the station for Wraith. <em>At least the Earth gate is shutdown. <em>Rodney couldn't bear the thought that Jennifer might be at the SGC getting ready to return and have Wraith show up.

"McKay, where's the control room?" Sheppard asked.

"It's down this corridor, up a flight of stairs and to the left." Rodney motioned towards a window they could see high above the Gateroom.

"Let's…" John started only to stop as he heard the Pegasus gate dialing.

"Cover!" Richards shouted as he shoved Rodney down the corridor and took up a position in front of the physicist.

After the Kawoosh shut down several Wraith stepped through the gate. They were met by heavy weapons' fire from the Atlantis teams still in the Gateroom.

"There's too many coming," Rodney shouted from his position, kneeling behind Richards and leaning out to shoot around the big Marine's legs.

Several Marines were dropped on the other side of the room by blue bolts coming from the Wraith on the ramp. As the firefight continued, John leaned back to safety behind the doorway for a moment to call into his radio. "Ronon, Teal'c, come in. Ronon, do you copy?"

"They might have followed the Wraith to Earth, sir," Richards offered to his CO. "That's what I'd do."

Rodney let out a sigh of relief because _if_ Jennifer were at the SGC and _if_ the Wraith were there, Teal'c – who was O'Neill's trusted warrior – would do anything to protect the General's niece.

More Wraith poured through the Pegasus gate causing Rodney to now have concern about their safety. Suddenly a sound like the gate shutting down caught his attention. He leaned around Richards to see that the shield had gone up on the Pegasus gate. Continuous impacts into the shield told the physicist the Wraith were still coming.

"Looks like we've got some allies in that control room," John said with admiration in his voice. "Hester take your team and try to get to the men on the other side. Richards let's make sure the Wraith don't punish anyone for helping us."

Rodney was hard pressed to believe Bill Lee would risk his life for anyone, but the engineer was the senior SGC person on the station.

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><p>In the control room the Wraith roared in anger as he looked at the small group huddled near the gate controller. Lee and Jennifer were leaning over Kavanagh's prone form. The physician had said she needed Bill's help with the bigger engineer. While Lee watched the Wraith, he quietly talked Jennifer through turning on the shield.<p>

With the team below safely protected, the young woman let out an audible sigh. She looked at the Wraith heading their way and knew it was the end. After everything she'd gone through in that damned galaxy, she was going to die in the great void between Pegasus and home.

"Bill, tell my uncle I'm sorry." She stared at the white face with green eyes – reptilian eyes – that came towards her. "And tell him to tell my father and my boyfriend I'm sorry too." Jennifer rose to her feet and stepped over Kavanagh.

"You did this!" The Wraith pointed at her before he came to a stop a few feet from her.

"Yes," she shot back. She allowed the anger that filled her lately to come out as she glared him down.

The Wraith did something unexpected to her. He backhanded her, knocking her across the room to crash into a wall and crumble to the floor.

"Oh my God!" Bill cried as he crawled around Kavanagh to get to her.

Jennifer's ears were ringing and stars drifted through her vision. _Not another concussion,_ was the only thought going through her head. A metallic taste filled her mouth as she realized she must have bitten her lip or tongue. The fact she could place the taste of blood made her realize she wasn't dead. _At least not yet._

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><p>Sheppard and Richards crept up the stairs ahead of Rodney and Warrington. The physicist felt like his feet were clanging off each rung on the metal stairs, but the Marine next to him didn't comment.<p>

They could hear shouting from behind them and Rodney feared the Wraith might have reactivated the gate. Intense shooting and Sheppard calling for updates only to be met by gunfire confirmed his suspicion.

"Let's get to that control room," John shouted.

Rodney had a sick feeling Bill Lee might not be among the living any longer.

When they entered the corridor leading to the Control Room, two Wraith guards were standing outside the door. Sheppard ran across the corridor, firing rapidly, and hit one of the guards. The other fired at John but he ducked out of sight so that Richards could take him out. The door at the end opened and another guard appeared. Richards blew that one away as well. The Colonel and Master Gunny entered the control room, which erupted with gunfire for a minute.

Warrington stayed behind with Rodney, covering their backs. They were waiting for Sheppard to give the all clear.

"Whoa! Oh, thank God," Bill Lee's voice could be heard coming down the corridor.

Rodney chuckled at the good fortune of that annoying little man.

"McKay, we're in the clear. Get in here," Sheppard shouted.

Rodney and Warrington ran into the control room. He saw a prone Kavanagh next to the gate controller. "What happened to Kavanagh?"

"He fainted," Lee said. "I'm gonna need some help…" The engineer was motioning to the floor beside him, which was hidden by the central control system for the station.

"Where's Ronon and Teal'c?" Sheppard cut him off.

"They went through the Milky Way Gate on the way to Stargate Command. They were chasing after the Wraith that got through," Lee added. "I really need some help with…"

"All right. Take my gun." John held out his pistol to the engineer. "Shoot at anything that tries to get through. Richards and Warrington, you're with me.

"Where are _you_ going?" Rodney asked.

"We're helping those Marines." He nodded toward the window where Wraith could be seen coming through the Pegasus gate once again.

"I really could use some help with Doctor…"

The console started beeping. "Shit! You'd better wake up Kavanagh. We've got a problem," Rodney groaned.

"What?" Sheppard and Lee asked at the same time.

Rodney started typing and got more negative beeps, John looked at the monitor screen to see more Wraith guards walking through the event horizon. "We're about to get overrun, Rodney."

"Looks like there's some kind of lock-out on the control system," Rodney growled.

"Well, un-lock it," John shouted. "We need to get down there."

"Stop!" Bill Lee shouted and the Lanteans looked at him with varying degrees of shock or annoyance on their faces. "I need your help with Doctor Keller. I think she's got a concussion."

"Jennifer!" Rodney's cried as all color drained from his face.

Fingertips gripped the console. "Bill, I could use a hand. And I don't have a concussion."

Jennifer Keller, with the help of Bill Lee, stood up to face the man she loved and the men she fought off monsters with on her first off world mission. Blood ran from her nose and a nasty bruise was forming on her right cheek. She blinked a few times to clear her eyes.

"Surprise," she said, offering a weak smile to Rodney as she wiped the blood with her sleeve.

TBC

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><p><strong>AN: I know I'm rushing a bit, but it's Rodney and Jennifer together during this that I've had in my head for years. **


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